G'day all,
I found it interesting that Naish have said that the new Naish Fly 15m has the power of an 18m, and turns like a 12m. Over a weekend recently I got to test the Fly and put it head to head against a little list of proven light wind kites. We had on hand Dyno 18m, Dyno 16m, and Ozone Edge 17m.
First interesting thing was the size of the kites, and as a quick test we layed the 18m at the bottom thinking it was the biggest then the 17m, 16m and the 15m last being the top one. Sure enough, the 18m was the longest but the mid section area (where you would think you get the power from) was not the biggest. The Naish Fly was clearly larger than the 18m, up until the last quater strut where the 18m just came out, and if you think about it, not really doing much for lift in this area.
We pumped up the kites and shuffled them about and no matter which way we put them, the Fly was bigger, with about 4 or 5 inches more canopy on the trailing edge, up to the last quater strut panel, the Fly again was bigger.
The Fly has has a huge tip and it appears that the turning/steering tow point is way out further than all of the other kites so I would say this is the reason it can turn faster, hence turns like a 12m which it did in our flying test.
But the true test for me was the flying test and although the Fly is a great kite, for my heavy arse (ass) the Dyno 18m is the clear winner for power, 17m Edge next then the Dyno 16m and you can imagine, the sizes would probably be a reason for this. The most glaring difference was the turning speed and the upwind wasn't as good as the high aspect kites. The power of the Fly was good, just not as good as the others and keep in mind, I am heavy.
Turning speed the Fly was the winner but not by as much as you think with the Dyno 18m by far the slowest which isn't a bad thing at all, just the way it was designed (park and ride).
My son has riden the Fly for the past 3 days and is really enjoying it and loves it but then again he's into the flicky stuff and I figure this is where the Fly is aiming for, rather than the shear power and speed. I couldn't get it to go upwind near as well as my Dyno 18m, or jump it as well but it did loop nicer, but I could get the 16m Dyno to go just as quick in the loops but remember I'm a little different as I'm really heavy and tend to get different results than others as I can put alot of force into it when I need to. Infact, if the Ozone Edge isn't pumped to 8 or 9 psi, every kite loop the leading edge would fold, where as the Dyno's didn't show any folding or distortion.
I can't comment on upper wind range except that I know the Dyno's and Edge are fantastic, and all jump really well, just not sure on the Naish Fly.
Interesting indeed, power of an 18m, turns like a 12m is mostly true.
cheers for now,
Robbie :D
edit: Tested a Rebel 2010 16m and a Core XR 17m on different day but very similar winds and conditions and they felt they had less power but the Core had very similar turning speed.
The power of an 18 with the turning of a 12 
